The major Chinese Internet firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. has invested US$50 million (C$65 million) into Kik Interactive, a social messaging app company based in Waterloo, Ontario. According to Kik, the company’s total valuation is now C$1 billion. Tencent owns WeChat and Tencent QQ, messaging services with 600 million and 843 million monthly active users, respectively, the large majority of them in China. A 25% year-on-year net profit increase was reported by Tencent for Q2 2015.
Kik Interactive, which currently has 51 employees, has 240 million registered users of its app. Kik reports that 40% of American teens use its app, with 70% of its users between 13 and 24 years old. Snapchat, a United States-based messenger with over 100 million users, also received a US$60 million investment from Tencent in 2013.